Observer News: What about the kittens?
What about the kittens?
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Mitch_Traphagen on 18/07/2012 16:52:00
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
There was no way the kitten was going to get out alive. The parking lot at
Riverview High School for the Sharks and East Bay Indians football game was
packed with cars. The kitten, only a few months old, would have been pulverized
by the stream of traffic leaving the game. She was a friendly little furball and
looking for someone to talk to, someone to scratch her head, someone to listen
to her complaints — and that would have been her end. At half-time, she looked
up at a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy; he reached down to give her a
scratch on her back.
She ran over to Michelle and I at the first, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!” I
stroked her fur while Michelle ran to the convenience store across the street
for a can of cat food. She was hungry, but her brilliant green eyes were full of
life. We made up a bed for her from a few towels in our car and I photographed
the rest of the game. Afterwards, she curled up in my lap and slept on the drive
home to Ruskin. She didn’t seem at all worried to be picked up by some
strangers and loaded into a car.
Her two favorite words quickly became apparent: “Emma” and “Kitty”. We
picked her up at the football game on October 3, 2003, and by the next day, she
would come running towards us whenever those words were uttered together. Today,
nearly nine years later, she still does. She knows she’s Emma Kitty, and
everyone loves Emma Kitty.
It seems there is nothing we can do that doesn’t have an impact on something
else. No one in those hundreds of cars at a football game would have noticed
much more than a bump in running over that kitten. Had it not been for us
noticing the sheriff’s deputy petting her in that crowded parking lot, there
would be no Emma Kitty today. No one would have been to blame, no one would ever
have known about it. The same thing happens every day; a new hospital is built
or a shopping center, all good things that are needed in South Hillsborough, but
in doing stuff like that, there is an impact. Critters that once called some
vacant land home become homeless. They don’t understand the need for a
hospital or a strip mall. They don’t understand anything about property
rights, they just know they have lost their home, that some really big and scary
machinery drove them from it.
Too bad, so sad, right? People are jobless, homeless and struggling to get by.
Who cares about a bunch of cats or other critters? I think we should — at
least some of us. And others should care about other things. I think we all need
to do something to help, but that concept seems to be increasingly diminished in
our national collective mind. I am very worried that as a society, as an era,
ours will be hallmarked by selfishness and utilitarianism. “We can’t afford
that!” is the cry for everything from human services to parks. In some cases
that is correct — our government can’t. But as a society, we can’t afford
to not have them.
President John F. Kennedy’s words, “Ask not what your country can do for you
— ask what you can do for your country,” are more true and urgent today than
when he uttered them during his inaugural address on January 20, 1961. Our
government very clearly can’t do everything to make our nation better. It is
up to us, the citizens, to make things happen. Some people do care about feral
cats and are volunteering their time and effort to help them. Some people care
about parks and nature trails and volunteer their time to build them. Some
people care about art and bringing it to people who could never possibly
experience it. All of those things enhance our lives in so many subtle ways that
as a society we tend to take it for granted, sometimes to the point of mocking
and criticism.
“What about the children?” is a question asked cynically in this politically
and socially divisive era. It is uttered dripping with sarcasm, an ad hominem
attack upon anyone who suggests a problem or a need to do something that
doesn’t fit within the confines of austerity and utilitarianism. Because,
after all, everyone should know that we just can’t afford to give a damn.
But we must. At least some of us must and the rest need to stop with the
sarcasm. In my opinion it is the height of irony that those screaming the
loudest with the complaints of “we can’t afford it” consider themselves
the patriots when, in truth, they are advocating for the exact same
utilitarianism that is a defining quality of communism. I’ve been in communist
countries and I can assure you that we don’t want that kind of society — we
don’t want that utilitarianism. It leads to a drab and soulless existence that
would suck the very life out of our nation.
Nature trails, art, even getting out of the house to feed (and trap, neuter and
release) feral cats is important to our society. Without that stuff, we would
lose something that is indefinable and all be left at home with nothing more
growing inside of us than anger as the talking heads on radio and television try
to tell us how to think. Yes, what about the children? What about all of the
warm and fuzzy stuff with value that can’t easily be calculated in a
spreadsheet? For things that lack hard numbers, they definitely add up.
A new hospital is a good thing. A new strip mall brings much needed jobs. But
let’s not forget that there is always an impact on something else. Let’s not
forget that the incalculable warm and fuzzy stuff adds up, too. Or rather the
loss of it leads to a place where Americans really won’t want to be, at least
not if we hope to continue leading the world. Our government obviously can’t
do it all, so what can you do for your country? Can you help out some homeless
cats? Can you help to keep our souls alive in supporting public access to the
arts? Can you help to replant some sea grass? Can you help your elderly neighbor
with her groceries or taking out her trash? The list is endless and it is
entirely up to you and your heart’s desire. Your effort (and your heart) is
needed today more than ever.
If you feel you can’t, if your anger and cynicism have displaced compassion
and the willingness to gamble on America and your fellow Americans by pitching
in to help, then at least get out of the way. Get out of the way of those doing
the impossible to make this a better place. Fight all you want about how your
tax dollars are spent — that is, after all, a privilege and the American Way.
But so is coming together with your neighbors to raise a barn — at least it
used to be. The American Way is people working together for something greater
than themselves, even if it doesn’t clearly and obviously add to their
personal bottom line.
So maybe not everyone loves Emma Kitty, but I do. I’m glad we did something
about it. She certainly didn’t add anything to a spreadsheet of my finances,
but she has added much to my life. Sometimes, it just doesn’t get any better
than that. Do what you can do for your country — even the smallest things
matter — and you’ll see just how valuable you really are. I’m willing to
bet on that.